If You Rent A House And The Water Heater Is Not Working And U And Ur Family Can’t Take Showers, Can U Sue?
I rented a house on May 5, 2006, and the water heater is not working. There are 7 of us in my family and none of us can take a warm or hot shower because we have no HOT WATER! We are taking cold showers everyday. Isn’t that against the contract agreement and isn’t the landlord liable for this irresponsible act especially when the gas company told me that they notified the landlord prior to new tenants (us) moving in that unless they raised the water heater by 18 inches, they would not be able to turn the water heater on. Could I sue the landlord to return my rent back and release me out of our rental agreement due to his negligence?
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9 Responses to “If You Rent A House And The Water Heater Is Not Working And U And Ur Family Can’t Take Showers, Can U Sue?”
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January 23rd, 2010 at 10:21 am
You don’t have to sue, but you may have grounds for an early termination of your lease due to your landlord’s failure to provide a basic accepted service. You should report him to your local housing authority. They may be able to help you put pressure on the landlord to remedy this problem so you do not have to move. If you can’t get any action by this route, you need to notify the landlord in writing that you consider him in breach of his contractual obligation and that you are therefore terminating the lease and you expect return of your rental deposit. If he does not return your deposit, then you might have to take him to small claims court.
January 23rd, 2010 at 2:01 pm
Have a contractor fix it and take it off the rent…document everything
January 23rd, 2010 at 4:54 pm
First have you notified the landlord that they will not connect the gas? What has been his response, has he made arrangements to have this fix.
Or have you not told him anything?
If you request it to be fixed and he will not fix it, it would give you a reason to break the lease or rental agreement and move without losing your deposit ( unless you damage something)
January 23rd, 2010 at 8:13 pm
In most venues, yes. But you must allow the landlord a reasonable amount of time to carry out the repairs. You have to document that you have formally notified him of the problem. You do that by sending him a notarized letter by registered mail, being sure to request a written confirmation of delivery. If no response in a week after you get that confirmation, send a second one. If no response to that one after another week has passed, then you go to small claims court. IF, on the other hand, the landlord responds by saying he’ll fix the problem, two weeks is a reasonable time to wait. If no fix by then, you go to small claims court. It can cost ya a few bucks, but nowadays a working hot water heater is not a luxury but a necessity. Good luck; it can be a real pain to deal with negligent landlords!
January 24th, 2010 at 2:05 am
Landlord, or homeowner IS responsible for things like Hot water heater, Furnace anything that comes with the house. Like some houses/apartments come with a refrigerator. The landlord owns it, so if it breaks he must fix/replace it. UNLESS there is a rental/lease agreement which states otherwise.
January 24th, 2010 at 4:48 am
Call the health department, also you can take your landlord to small claims court to get your money back and out of your lease. document everything for court and take it all with you when you go in front of a judge. ask for a court case right away, tell the courthouse it’s an emergence.
January 24th, 2010 at 9:57 am
Is it a HUD home? If so, It has to be in compliance.
You could talk to the landlord, and ask to get it fixed.
You could go to the home depot, buy a water heater, and replace it yourself, or have a plumber replace it.
Either of the two would be cheaper than hiring a lawyer.
Last resort, you could find another place to live and ask for your security deposit back.
Good luck
January 24th, 2010 at 10:11 am
I dont know where you are but there is a law against that kind of thing. Its a slum lord kind of law.
Theres a web site that can help you.
Fair housing act…. you can be directed from there. google it.
January 24th, 2010 at 4:36 pm
you can get our of your lease because your landlord broke the rental agreement.